Post: #1

Hi guys !

As a french native speaker who's quite good at writing in french, I figured out that I could try to translate from english to french as a freelance.

I'm no fool and I know that nobody will hire a guy with no experiece and no proof about his skills. With this in mind, I'm willing to work for free to gain reputation and portfolio.

I registered to Elance but I found that I can't work for free on this site because the minimal cost I can charge is 3$/hours.

Do you have any suggestion on how I can find work ?

Post: #2

Couple suggestions, if you don't mind hearing them.

1. Never work for free. On a subconscious level, people will not value what they are not paying for. Worse still, they will begin to treat you cruelly. Why? To suppress their guilt. So, resist the temptation to do this. Value yourself. If you don't, no one else will.

2. There are many ways you can parlay your native speaker status into income. Set up a website, do Skype, etc. Just get the word out there.

3. Try getting tested in some approved and recognized rating system. You can put that on your resume/website. If you don't have work experience (or even if you do), it really makes a difference if you can point to some official language rating or accreditation. It lets people know you are legitimate. Find an internationally recognized (or nationally recognized) test system and have yourself tested.

Post: #3

Thanks Quintus ! I will definitely consider your suggestions !